But they suspected that a doctor at the hospital in San Salvador exchanged him for another child because the baby they took home appeared to have darker skin. They feared their biological son had been sold to human traffickers.

When they raised their concerns with staff, they responded that "babies change color," a friend told WFAA.

Ms Casanellas added to a Salvadoran TV station: "I kept trying to convince myself that he was really ours, that over time we would begin to see a resemblance. But my motherly instincts kept telling me that he wasn't mine."

On Monday, the couple attended a special court hearing and were told that their baby had been identified after other mothers were ordered to undergo DNA tests. The swapped babies were returned to their correct parents.